[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Boryeong] While the performance of KOSDAQ companies showed a slight increase compared to the previous year, the IT sector demonstrated relatively better results than other industries.
The Korea Exchange announced the "Analysis of the 2019 Fiscal Year Financial Results of KOSDAQ Market Companies with December Year-End" on the 1st. The analysis of consolidated financial results covered 946 companies out of 1,054 December year-end companies that were comparable. Reasons for exclusion included failure to submit reports, delisting, foreign companies, and missing comparative data.
On a consolidated basis, sales amounted to KRW 181.5905 trillion, an 8.39% increase compared to 2018. Operating profit also increased by 4.63%, while net profit decreased by 10.47%.
By industry, the IT sector's 357 companies saw sales and operating profit increase by 9.58% and 4.69%, respectively, compared to the previous year, while net profit decreased by 6.55%. In particular, the software and services segment recorded increases of 19.28% in sales, 9.28% in operating profit, and 19.68% in net profit. The hardware segment saw sales and operating profit rise by 6.94% and 3.76%, respectively, but net profit declined by 14.52%.
The 589 companies outside the IT sector showed overall increases in sales and operating profit of 7.72% and 4.57%, respectively, but net profit fell by 14.22% compared to the previous year.
Looking only at operating profit, industries with increased operating profit included transportation (45.84%), distribution (45.32%), finance (20.70%), and entertainment & culture (12.04%), while industries with decreased operating profit included manufacturing (-2.81%), other services (-3.19%), construction (-18.56%), lodging & food (-21.44%), and agriculture & forestry (-24.22%).
Among the KOSDAQ companies analyzed this time, 597 companies (63.11%) posted profits. Meanwhile, 349 companies (36.89%) recorded losses. Of these, 500 companies (52.85%) maintained profits as in the previous year, and 97 companies (10.25%) turned profitable. 230 companies (24.31%) continued to show losses as in the previous year, and 119 companies (12.58%) shifted from profit to loss compared to the previous year.
The company with the highest consolidated operating profit among KOSDAQ-listed companies was Daou Data. Daou Data's operating profit last year increased by 54.57% year-on-year to KRW 558.978 billion. Following were SK Materials with KRW 214.752 billion, SFA with KRW 214.25 billion, and Sangsangin with KRW 182.373 billion.
The listed company with the highest operating profit margin was Oisolution, whose operating profit increased by 24,820.19% compared to the previous year. Sampyo Cement (6,348.81%), Innowireless (6,045.91%), and Ilnatek (2,800.25%) followed.
Meanwhile, on an individual/separate basis, sales increased by 4.26% to KRW 135.8356 trillion compared to the previous year, while operating profit and net profit decreased by 2.54% and 26.80%, respectively.
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